What Parker learned about love

Sarah Jessica Parker has been happily married to Matthew Broderick for more than two decades, says Jess Cagle in People. But the Sex and the City star experienced her fair share of romantic drama before settling down. In 1984, when she was just 19, Parker embarked on a turbulent seven-year relationship with Robert Downey Jr. He had a serious cocaine problem at the time; Downey Jr. has since admitted being “out of his mind” for large parts of their relationship. “And I didn’t do anything,” says Parker, 52. “I didn’t know for a long time. I was like, ‘Why is his heart beating so fast? Don’t do so many push-ups before bed!’” Eventually, she says, “I learned how to take care of myself. There was a huge amount of time spent making sure he was OK. At a certain point, I had the courage to say, ‘I’m going to walk away and I’m just going to pray that you don’t die.’” Parker also had her heart broken by Chris Penn, her co-star in the actress’s first movie as an adult, Footloose. She doesn’t regret any of it. “I learned that it’s great to have your heart broken. I hated it; it was miserable. But getting your heart broken is necessary. You know that you can love somebody and you can have resilience.” ■